1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to burp cloths that are used to protect a person from an infant's spit-up when the infant is being held and burped. More particularly, the present invention relates to the structure of such burp cloths and the optional features incorporated into the design of the burp cloth.
2. Prior Art Description
It is well known that the digestive track of an infant is not well developed. Accordingly, many infants regurgitate the milk they consume. Although the regurgitation comes from an infant, it does contain some amount of stomach acids. Many people have skin that is sensitive to such acids. This is especially true among mothers of newborn children who tend to wash their hands more than usual, thereby developing dry, cracked skin.
In the prior art, a wide variety of burp cloths have been developed that are designed to protect a person from the regurgitations of an infant. However, most burp clothes are designed to be placed over the shoulder when the infant is burped while being held over the shoulder. In this manner, the burp cloth protects the shoulder of the caregiver's clothes from being contacted and stained from the spit-up. Such prior art burp cloths are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,960 to Hemming, entitled Nursing Garmet, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0239123 to Pressler, entitled Multi-Purpose Cloth For Use With Infants And Children.
Other burp cloths are designed to be placed on an infant, like a bib. Such burp cloths protect the infant's clothes from being stained from spit-up, but offers little protection to the mother while the infant is being burped. Infant burp cloths with spit-up catch pockets are exemplified by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0157357, entitled Multi-Purpose Cloth For Use With Infants And Children.
Although prior art burp cloths do protect an infant's clothes and a mother's clothes from spit-up, prior art burp cloth designs do little to protect a mother's hand. A need therefore exists for a burp cloth design that both protects clothing from spit-up and also protects the skin of a mother's hand. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.